Gaff hook



Feb- 51952 Vc. E. JoHNsloN ETAL 2,584,881

GAFF Hoox Filed June 17, 1948 .9 .9 I `BY l im,

Patented Feb. 5, 1952 GAFF Hook Charles E.Y Johnson and George 0. Johnson,

Portland, Oreg.

Applicatmn June rz, 194s, serial No. 33,516

2 claims. (c1. 294-110) This invention relates to improvements in gait hooks of the type shown and described in our United States Patent No. 2,527,133 dated October 24, 1950.

It is one of the principal objects of the present invention to provide a gaff hook of this character wherein the hooks may be actuated into a fully opened position by a simple downward' thrust of the handle portion against an abutment-such, for instance, as the deck of a boat or the like.

A further object is the. provision ci a. mok of this. character wherein all of its moving parts, except for the hook portions, are encased within an elongated hollow handle.

'Ihese and other objects will appear as our invention is more fully hereinafter described in the following specification, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and finally pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a hook made in accordance with our invention, shown in a closed position, and with fragments broken away and parts in section for clearness of illustration.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the hooks in an open position.

Referring now more particularly to the draw mg:

The main body of the invention comprises an elongated hollow tubular handle I, attened and flared outwardly into a head 2 between whose flattened sides are pivotally mounted, by means of pins 3 or the like, a pair of cooperating hooks 4 whose Shanks 5 are flattened and slotted as at 6 to slidably and pivotally embrace the pins 3. The lowermost ends of the hook shanks are pivotally connected to each other and to the uppermost end of a shaft 1 by a pin 8 so that upward and downward movement of the shaft within the handle will respectively open and close said hooks. The shaft I is of greater length than the handle and terminates within a cylinder 9 closed at one of its ends and normally extending outwardly from the end of the handle and forming a housing for a compression spring I5 whose one end bears against the closed end of the cylinder 9 and whose opposite end bears against a collar II secured as at I2 to the shaft 1. The open end of the cylinder may be flanged outwardly or provided with a ring as at 9A to serve as a limit stop upon contacting a flange or ring 9B disposed on the interior of the lower most end of the handle to prevent removal. of the cylinder from the handle.

Pivotally attached, as at 1 3, to the shaft above the collar II is a pair of dogs I4 whose outermost ends are adapted to engage with diametrically opposed apertures I5 formed in the wall of the handle. When so engaged, the dogs` prevent the shaft 'I from moving upwardly with a resultant opening the hooks. Thereforel in order to open the hooks, it is rst necessary to move the cylinder 9 upwardly into the handle until its upper end engages and compresses the dogs Il!y about their pivot point I3 to disengage the outermost ends 'ofthe dogs from the apertures I5'. When this occurs, as shown in Figure 2, the dogs are permitted to move freely upward through the handle along with the shaft 'I which, by means of a collar I5, compresses a spring Il whose one end bears against said collar and whose opposite end bears against a bushing IB permanently attached to the interior of the handle by means of bolts I9 or any other suitable means, such as spot-welding and the like. Above the bushing I8, the handle is provided with apertures 20 for engagement with dogs 2| pivotally attached as at 22 to the shaft 1. These dogs hold the hooks 4 in an open position until compressed by a sleeve 23 surrounding the shaft 1 and attached to and movable with a trigger 24. A coil spring 25 is housed within the sleeve 23 and one of its ends bearsv against a collar 26 carried by the shaft 1 and its opposite end bears against the closed end of the sleeve. The purpose of this spring is to urge the trigger 24 upwardly and the sleeve upwardly away from the dogs 2| to permit them to expand or swing outwardly into engagement with the apertures 2D for holding the hooks in an open position. Any downward pressure, of course, on the end of the trigger will cause the sleeve 23 to compress the dogs 2| out of engagement with the apertures 20 which will allow the heavy spring I1 to expand and thrust the shaft 1 downwardly to pull the pivoted ends of the hook shanks downwardly to cause a rapid closing of the hooks.

While we have shown a particular form of embodiment of our invention, we are aware that many minor changes therein will readily suggest themselves to others skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what we claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A gaff hook of the class described comprising an elongated hollow handle, a pair of cooperating hooks pivotally and slidably attached by intermediate portions of their Shanks to one end of said handle, a shaft movable on the interior of the handle and attachedl to the free ends of the Shanks of said hooks for moving the hooks into open and closed positions, resilient means surrounding said shaft and having one of its ends secured to said shaft and its opposite end secured to said handle whereby movement of the shaft in one direction for opening said hooks will compress said resilient means, a pair of compressible dogs attached to said shaft and engageable with said handle upon said movement of the shaft in one direction for holding said shaft in a hook-open position, a second pair of compressible dogs carried by said shaft and engageable with said handle for locking said shaft in a position to resist the compressing of said resilient means, and means operable from the exterior of the handle for releasing said first mentioned pair of dogs from their engagement with said handle whereby said shaft under the influence of said resilient means will pull said hooks into a closed position and asecond means exterior of the handlefor releasing the second pair of dogs to effect the opening of the jaws.

2. A gaif hook comprising in combination an elongated tubular handle flattened and flared outwardly into a hollow head at one of its ends, a pair of cooperating hooks pivotally and slidably attached intermediate their ends to opposite sides of said head and pivotally attached to each other at their innermost ends, a shaft movable lengthwise of said handle on the interior thereof and attached to said pivotal connection of $0 the innermost ends of said hooks for moving the hooks into open and closed positions, resilient means surrounding said shaft and having one of its ends secured to said shaft and its opposite end secured to said handle whereby movement of the shaft in one direction for opening said hooks will compress said resilient means, a pair of spring-urged compressible dogs carried by said shaft and engageable with said handle upon movement of vthe shaft in one direction with respect thereto for holding said hooks in an open position, a second pair of spring-urged compressible dogs carried by the shaft and engageable with said handle to resist movement of said shaft in an opposite direction, trigger means extending outwardly from one end of said handle and adapted upon longitudinal movement with respect thereto to release said first mentioned pair ofY dogs Afrom their engagement with said handle, means extending outwardly from the opposite end of said handle for disengaging said second pair of dogs from engagement with said handle.

CHARLES E. JOHNSON. GEORGE O. JOHNSON,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 886,003 Kraft Apr. 28, 1908 1,110,234 Richardson Sept. 8, 1914 1,578,711 Churchill Mar. 30, 1926 

